£73,500 to boost Herts’ identity

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Published:16:24Monday 09 January 2017

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Herts’ museums team have been handed £68,500 of Lottery cash to help build a sense of “county identity and heritage”.

The money, to be supplemented with £5,000 from SHARE Museums East, will help fund the Traditional Hertfordshire project, which aims to unite six museums and organisations including Dacorum Heritage Trust.

Over a 14-month period, each organisation will interpret the theme differently depending on their collection and specific priorities, all engaging with local people and visitors to Hertfordshire.

Contributors include the county council’s Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies, which will be working to record and share traditions, customs and ways of life, through oral history interviews and contemporary collecting. An exhibition, event and book will be created which celebrates Hertfordshire’s diversity.

Teresa Heritage, cabinet member for public health, localism and libraries at County Hall, said: “Hertfordshire has a unique cultural heritage and thanks to this funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and Share this project will inspire and reinvigorate interest and knowledge to help recreate Hertfordshire’s sense of local identity.”

Robyn Llewellyn, head of the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) East of England, said: “We are delighted that thanks to National Lottery players we can support this exciting project that explores and celebrates so many wonderful aspects of Hertfordshire’s heritage. It’s a chance for everyone to get directly involved in the county’s rich history.”

>Do you think this is a good way of investing £70,000-plus of public money? Email thegazette@jpress.co.uk